This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

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Hey all, I'm a 28 year old man from the rainy Pacific Northwest, new to this site and new to MS.

Short story is, back in July 2012 I started loosing feeling and had numbness and tingling from my waist down. I didn't have insurance and had to go to the local free clinic. Well due to all the paperwork and being passed around from doctor to doctor things were going slow. Then on Aug 28 i started to loose my vision in my left eye and had zero clue on what was going on. By Aug 30 I couldn't see at all in my left eye... I said to myself, "F*** it... no insurance or not I'm going to the doctor". So I went to the ER. Well a hellish 18 hour stay, x-rays, blood work, 2 MIR's, 2 eye exams, 4 failed spinal taps, and then a successful one using a xray, $20K in medical bills, I found out that I have MS.

Now currently I am still fairly new to this whole thing. Thank God with help from a woman at the hospital I just got on Medicaid and now can go to the doctors like I need to and also am 9 days into using Copaxone. So far Copaxone isn't too bad. Kinda hurts sometimes like a sting but I have gotten a rash from it twice now. The first time was the first time I did it in my belly and then I just did it in my leg and I have one right now. But I figure I will keep on it for a while and see if it helps, its better then not walking or seeing.

Currently I am just fighting off a attack and once again everything from waist down is numb. I was put on Prednisone and it is getting better.

So far I have had numbness waist down twice and vision issues twice. It's been hard but I am trying to just get trough daily life. I am also on a big Vit-D does too.

I am just glad that I have a great helping family and the most amazing girlfriend in the world. She has been a huge help with everything. And she must be a keeper cause she has been sticking through all this hand in hand with me

So that my little story. Now I'm off to check out the rest of the forum. I look forward to meeting people on here and sharing experiences and knowledge.

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Welcome to ThisIsMS, don.First, you have found many supportive friends at this site. We are here to help in any way we can. We come from diverse experiences and hold diverse ideas. We do not necessarily agree with each other in our thoughts on MS; you will probably not agree with some of us either; we only ask for tolerance when we express unconventional ideas.

MY personal suspicion is that too much insulin starts the MS cascade. The pancreas can produce excess insulin for any number of reasons; a diet heavy in carbohydrates and sugar is probably the most common reason. The hormone insulin irritates the inside of blood vessels (especially the small ones first – in the eyes, capillaries everywhere including extremities) – I think this causes the tingling (a "raw" or "sunburned" feeling) I have in my legs and feet.

Solu-Medrol is a glucocorticosteroid (as is prednisone) which is often prescribed for MS symptoms; I know it elevates blood sugar and temporarily engages or occupies the insulin, reducing the amount of both in the bloodstream. In my opinion, this is the mechanism that explains MS symptom improvement with Solu-Medrol. During this time the pancreas MAY reset to secrete a proper amount – adequate to handle glucose, but not in an excess amount. (Solu-Medrol has not been effective for me. My pancreas chronically secretes TOO MUCH insulin; I suspect that yours does too.)

Cortisol also elevates blood sugar and the body produces more insulin in response. In your case it may be that your elevated levels of cortisol are prompting your pancreas to overproduce insulin.

I think this imbalance of the hormone insulin causes other hormone imbalances – possibly thyroid hormones. With insurance issues you may not wish to incur the cost of testing these. But you may observe these things: brittle or thinning hair (hair loss) is one of the signs of a problem in the thyroid gland (underactive thyroid a.k.a. hypothyroidism). Other symptoms can include feeling tired (unrelenting fatigue), cold all the time, memory loss, brittle nails, leg swelling, constipation, loss of the outer third of eyebrows, difficulty losing weight because of slow metabolism. Could this be a possibility for you? A simple home test can also indicate underactive thyroid: if you take your basal body temperature (in the morning before getting out of bed) every morning for a week and it is consistently below 98°, you may have an underactive thyroid. I recently came across the following information: "Many medications also slow down the thyroid and also cause iodine deficiency. Lithium and corticosteroids [Solu-Medrol and prednisone] are thyroid-slowing and should be used sparingly if at all."

"Puffy eyes" are another symptom of a thyroid problem.

My recommendations for discussion with a GP: a request for a "fasting blood insulin test" (NOT to be confused with a glucose test). This test is one of the least expensive blood tests (about $80, I think). The optimal insulin test result should be 3 UU/ML or lower. (Mine is never been below 9.)

From this day forward, I encourage you to eat a healthy diet. Many people find that diet can influence the symptoms of MS. In my opinion, this means a low-carb diet -- removing all sugar (including beer, wine, etc. which have sugar and trigger insulin production), removing all artificial sweeteners, including sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, etc. (These promote insulin production, too.), removing all trans fats (These also increase insulin.), and white flour, white bread, white potatoes, white rice (in fact, all carbs so far as possible) from your diet. I think that excess insulin plays a great part in MS and suspect that Fatty Liver Disease is also involved. Diet is important. You may find the account of Dr. Terry Wahls and her dramatic improvement interesting (http://www.TerryWahls.com).

My hypothesis: excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) plays a major role in MS, as developed in my initial post: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-discussion-f1/topic1878.html "Insulin – Could This Be the Key?"

Diet is the key to reverseing all disease. Dr. Bergman gives you a 60 day plan to cure your MS. Might give it a try. You have nothing to lose but your MS. Might be able to get off the Copaxone which may destroy your liver. Here is a site called "Ask A Patient". There are 5 pages of people who tell you what to expect if you take Copaxone. You must take control of your own health if you ever want to get better. There are people llike Roger MacDougall who have cured themselves with diet. Get the information and you can get healthy again.

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